A form of periodontal disease develops in the rice rat under standardized laboratory conditions which has many similarities to common forms of periodontal disease in man. A colony of rice rats is maintained under standardized conditions to produce suitable offspring to use in experimental procedures. In one series of experiments, as a logical extension of observation that dietary composition is closely related to the production of periodontal disease, human food items are being evaluated to determine their individual potentials to cause the initiation and progression of periodontal disease in this strain of experimental animal under controlled laboratory conditions. In other studies, pharmacologic agents, which have been indicated in other studies to have a potential for altering the progression of periodontal disease, are being tested in this animal assay system to determine whether any of these are capable of inhibiting this disease process. These types of studies serve as potential ways to screen agents which may later merit clinical testing as the ultimate evaluation of merit for the control of human disease.